hidden in the shadows
by allycatintree
Summary: not all life begins and ends happily, but it is how a life is lived that counts in the end. to save two brothers that have warred for so long she must begin where it all began.


1 karthana 

A famous ninja once said that "If you're not part of the solution then you're part of the problem." That same ninja also told me that "Yesterday is history, tomorrow a mystery, today a gift." That was before everything changed for me. Back then I didn't know what he was taking about. It took almost 9 years to figure it out. This is my path.

The sun had just begun to rise when a knock came at the door. A tall dark-haired woman opened the door to her childhood friend. He was a tall raven haired man with big blue eyes. She handed him a basket. In the basket was her new born baby. "Please take her and raise her so some day she may find her rightful place in the circle of life," the woman pleaded. These were the words that many mothers who feared for their baby's lives had spoken to one or other shinobi from the Sagrin village, but unlike all the other babies, whose mothers either could not afford to feed another child or simply didn't want them for various reasons, this small helpless child's life was in danger. This small blue eyed girl was the only hope for her clan so the elders of her clan were willing to protect her by any means possible. As the man rode off listening to the mother weeping, he marveled at the strength of the baby's mother that she would be so willing to give her up simply to protect her and as the new days sunlight struck the baby's face making her laugh, the man thought how sad it was that no one would ever again want the girl simply because she would now never belong anywhere ever again. A feeling of impending doom hit him hard and not even the glory of the new day could drive it away.

5 years later that same little girl, Karthana, stood out in front of her house waiting for Sensei Hoku who the girl considered her only friend. Hoku was a 23 year old shinobi of the Sagrin village, also known as the village hidden in the shadows. He was responsible for taking care of and mentoring Karthana. Karthana, also known as Korin, impatiently hopped from foot to foot straining her eyes down the long dusty road so she might be the first to sight Hoku. Six minutes later he was there grinning down at her. Korin had looked away just for a second and Hoku had taken the chance to drop down from his hiding place and surprise her. It was a game the two played every time he came. Hoku was rewarded for his troubles with a look of surprise in the girl's eyes, which she immediately covered up, for, as she said, it was not appropriate for a ninja to look surprised. "Hoku, what took you so long? I have been waiting four a hundred hours so I could show you my new move!" Korin complained.

It surprised Hoku how much she looked like her mother; her long black hair, her long legs and the way she smiled. The only difference was Korin's piercing gray eyes.

"Well now I am here, so what did you want to show me"? he laughed. Karthana's eyes grew bright. "Just this," she said. She went into a deep shoulder width horse stance, stomped the ground, and a boulder flew up. It was about as big as his head. With a loud "Ki-aye!" she punched the rock. The rock broke in half and toppled to the ground.

Hoku was so taken aback from this he couldn't say anything for quite a while. The girl looked worried. "What did I do? Is there something wrong?" she asked. Hoku regained his composure just in time to stop Korin form punching a tree in anger. "No, no, Korin, that was very good." Hoku just hoped no one had seen her do that but him.

A rare twisted smile appeared on the lips of the thirteen year old boy watching the little girl. She was good. Given a little time she would make a useful weapon.

Hoku took Korin's hand and led her inside. "Hello, Imron. Did you teach Korin how to vend stone?" Hoku greeted the old man leaning over the stove. Korin knew this man simply as grandpa, though he was not really her grandfather.

"No, I didn't. Korin told me a boy she met told her how. What was his name again, Omagosan (granddaughter)?" Korin thought fast. The boy had told her to tell no one his true name and she was not one to break promises.

"His name is Ijimekko."

"Ah, yes, that was it. Well, Hoku, she came home one day from her fire wood gathering and she showed me what she could do. Something like stone vending is way beyond me. I never could get the hang of it."

Imron brought the bubbling pot of stew over to the table and all three dug in hungrily. After dinner Hoku took Korin to bed while Imron washed the dishes. After that was done they were both very tired so both of them decided they would talk about Korin's new-found ability tomorrow. Hoku entered Korin's room to check on her. He smiled at her peaceful sleeping face. He wished she could always be so peaceful and he could have had no idea that the peacefulness would soon draw to a close.

Korin woke in the middle of the night to a piercing scream. It sounded like grandpa's so Korin hopped out of bed and pulled a robe over her soft night gown and ran towards the sliding wall that separated her room from the rest of the house. Just then the door was quickly slid aside and Hoku was in the doorway. He grabbed her up and she instantly began complaining. Hoku clapped a hand over her mouth and took her outside.

Smoke poured outside from inside the house. Just then part of the hut exploded with fire. Hoku grabbed the reins of the already saddled horses and slung up on it weeping Korin and all and gave the horse a good hard slap on the rump. The horse reared forward and galloped toward the path.

Disoriented Korin looked back and in the flickering flames she saw a tall masked man whose eyes glowed red watching them go. Korin was too young to know who that was or what was going on, but in her small mind whoever that man was had just ruined her home and probably killed her grandfather and she promised herself that she would someday hunt down that nasty man and pay him back for what he had done.

Little did she know that this was not the first time that he had destroyed her life, nor would it be the last.

The thirteen-year-old boy quite easily followed them through the woods. He knew his master, the masked man would want information on the little girl. Itachi had no intention of telling Madara anything on the girl unless it served his purposes. He only wanted to make sure she was safe. He watched from a branch while Hoku galloped off with her unscathed.

Korin looked up to see through tear-stained eyes the boy who had taught her the new move. Itachi realized he had been sighted and quickly hid, but he had seen the fire within her eyes and he now knew he had been wrong. Though the girl had not been bodily harmed she did not come out unscathed.

Three months later Korin had finally settled into her new home in Hoku's house. In that time she celebrated her 6th birthday. The day after her birthday she started school. She came home early with two black eyes and a bloody nose. Hoku looked down at her worriedly and asked "Korin, what happened?"

"A kid at school said that I was nothing but an outcast and I would never belong anywhere. I tried to ignore him but then he called me a stuck up brat and punched me. I didn't know what to do so I punched him back but he was as big as a giant and he beat me up. The teacher told me to come straight home. What did he mean I'm nothing but an outcast?"

Hoku sighed. He always knew it would come to this. He looked Korin in the eye and said, "I think its time I told you about the Uchiha clan."

the Uchiha clan

Seven-year-old Sasuke heard the familiar sound of his older brother Itachi coming home from school. Itachi opened the door to find his little brother patiently waiting for him. Sasuke hurled himself at his big brother and grasped him in a big bear hug. "Hey, let's play!" Sasuke said.

"Ok. What do you want to play?" asked Itachi.

Just then their mom entered. "Sasuke your brother has his academy homework to do. You can play after he's done," their mom said sternly. Sasuke's face fell.

"Its ok, mom. I'll do my homework later…. its easy." Saying this, Itachi toke Sasuke by the hand and lead him to the woods where a long game of hide and seek ensued.

"Where'd he hide?" Sasuke wondered aloud. Just then he spotted Itachi's foot peeking out from behind a tree.

"Found you," Sasuke joyfully exclaimed.

Itachi stepped out from behind the tree. "Not bad, Sasuke but…." Itachi said and, to his brother's surprise, Itachi vanished. "Too bad. Maybe next time," Itachi's voice said from seemingly nowhere.

"No fair!" Sasuke shouted. His brother had used what was called a clone jutsu. It was a technique used mostly in battle to trick people.

That night at dinner Sasuke described to his father the day's game.

"Hey, Dad. We played hide and seek today and Itachi used the clone jutsu. Don't you think that's cheating?"

"Oho, so you want to change the rules in your favor?" laughed Itachi. A look of defiance crossed Sasuke's face. Then an idea came to him. "Brother, would you show me how to do it after dinner?"

But his mother interrupted sternly. "He has homework to do."

"Man, I never get to do anything" Sasuke complained.

"I'll show you some other time. Sorry, Sasuke." Itachi apologized, and with that he tapped Sasuke on the forehead and left.

The next day again found Itachi and Sasuke out in the woods but this time they weren't playing. Instead Itachi was teaching his little brother how to throw a knife. "We should head home soon, Sasuke."

"But you said you'd show me how to do that new shuriken technique!" A shuriken is a sharp piece of metal that is shaped like a four cornered star. Some people call it a ninja throwing star. Itachi was the top in his class and often invented new methods of using them.

"Sorry, Sasuke. I've got an important mission tomorrow. I've got to prepare for it."

"Liar."

Itachi smiled and waved Sasuke over toward him. Sasuke, thinking Itachi had relented and was going to teach him the technique, dashed toward him but as he neared him, Itachi reached out and tapped him on the forehead.

"Sorry, Sasuke, some other time."

"Ow! That hurt."

Itachi just smiled. Sasuke, miffed at not being able to learn something new, yelled "Brother, watch this!" and with a flourish Sasuke threw his two throwing knives at a tree and missed completely. Instead of hitting the sycamore tree which was his target, he narrowly missed killing two birds.

"Hey, don't overdo it, little brother!"

Walking home, Sasuke riding on Itachi's back, Sasuke asked his big brother, "Will you practice with me again soon?"

"Sure" Itachi replied. "But I have missions I need to concentrate on and you're starting at the ninja academy tomorrow. We won't have much time together anymore."

"I don't mind. So long as we're together sometimes."

Later, as they waited for dinner, Itachi and Sasuke sat in their courtyard. They had been silent for quite a while and Itachi thoughtfully said, "You and I are brothers. That's a unique bond. I exist as the ultimate obstacle that you must strive to overcome. I'll always be there for you. Even if you hate me. That's what being a brother is."

That's all he said but Sasuke could tell something was wrong. He just wished he knew what.

Three days later Sasuke walked in to Itachi's room and asked, "Brother, will you practice shuriken technique with me today?"

"I'm busy. Can't dad teach you?"

"But you're better at it than him. Even a kid like me can tell that! You always act like I'm a pest."

Itachi's reply was his usual. He waved Sasuke over and tapped Sasuke on the forehead and said, "Sorry, Sasuke, some other time." And with that Itachi left.

The full moon watched Sasuke as he dashed towards home. He knew he would be in trouble for being late for supper. He had after school gone to the woods to practice and in doing so lost all track of time. A breeze tickled his cheek and blew his long dark bangs into his face.

As he neared his clan's complex he stopped. Something was wrong. There were no lights on in any of the houses and he heard no voices as was usual. When he got closer he saw the carnage. The bodies of his clansmen were everywhere. He did not stop to recognize any of them.

It had suddenly donned on him - if this had happened to his clansmen what had happened to his mother and father? He took off toward his house.

Suddenly he heard a rustle. He looked up to see some one perched on top of a telphone pole. His eye glowed red.

Sasuke did not stop. He kept on running. When he glanced back to see if the someone was still there, he was gone.

Sasuke opened the door to his house and called, "Mom, Dad, anyone home?" No answered. He tried again but there was still no answer. Sasuke ran through his house looking in each room trying to find his family.

Finally he came to his living room. The doors were closed. He put a tentative hand out to open the door but paused. He could hear murmuring coming from the other side. Relief spread up Sasuke's body. His parents were safe.

He flung the doors open and rushed in and stopped, dead in his tracks. There were his parents, kneeling on the floor, huddled together. They did not look at him but kept there eyes fixed to the floor.

But it was not them that frightened Sasuke. It was who was standing behind them with his sword drawn, blood dripping from its tip. He was looking out the big bay window. Slowly he turned, red eyes meeting Sasuke's black ones. It was his brother, Itachi. His kekkei genkai blood trait, the sharigan eyes, stared coolly back at Sasuke.

The Uchiha clan is known for their ability to see through illusions and copy any move. And if you see your closest friend's death you could potentially get a more powerful eye condition. The year before, Itachi's best friend supposedly committed suicide, but now Sasuke doubted that it had been suicide.

Itachi raised his sword above his head, angling to chop his parents in half. What happened next would scare Sasuke for life. He would never again be able to get rid of the image of Itachi slaying his mother and father. Itachi's sword dropped and blood went everywhere. It spattered Sasuke. He ran forward, screaming, at his brother.

Itachi dropped his sword and punched his little brother in the stomach, pushing him forward. Then Itachi brought his leg around with a powerful side kick. Sasuke flew against the wall and crumpled to the floor, winded. A throwing knife narrowly missed killing him. It was unusual for Itachi to miss but it was a good thing he did.

When he finally had enough breath to speak, he sobbed, "Why, why did you do this?"

The Itachi that answered was a cooled and cruel-hearted one. He showed no emotion.

"To test my limits," was his answer. Sasuke then made the mistake of looking up. A smirk crossed Itachi's face and Sasuke was plunged into time.

His older brother was using the more powerful sharigan he had gotten by killing his best friend. Sasuke was tortured by having to re-watch his mother and father die again and again. Then he began to see other family members die; his aunts and uncles, his cousins, grandpa and grandma.

His scream echoed through the dream world and as if in answer, Itachi released him. Itachi took a step toward Sasuke. Sasuke's eyes widened. His interior mind was screaming at him, "He will kill you too!" but somewhere far back in his mind he was still unwilling to believe that his brother had killed his mother and father.

Itachi took another step toward him and Sasuke on all fours, ducked away. Itachi got closer. " I …. I don't want to die." "I don't want to die."

Sasuke ran out of the room, screaming, tears running down his cheeks. "I'm scared." He kept murmuring that to himself. Though he could not have known himself, anyone looking on would have realized that Sasuke was in a state of shock. Sasuke kept on running till he could run no more.

Sasuke collapsed on the cobblestone road. A hideous crossed Itachi's face as he looked down at his weeping brother.

"Why?" Sasuke asked, not looking at Itachi. His answer was slow to come.

"I'm tired of playing the good big brother, always pretending that I care when I'd much rather run you through with my sword and rid myself of a pest."

Sasuke glared up at his elder brother. Itachi laughed. "Yes, Sasuke, grow strong. Live in your hate of me so one day you may exact your revenge on me."

And then, using the butt of his sword, he hit Sasuke over the head. **B**efore Sasuke completely succumbed to the darkness, however, he glimpsed what would be the one picture that would be with him forever. His brother had tears running down his cheeks, but for the rest of Sasuke's life he would assume that it had been rain, which at the time had been powering down from the sky.


End file.
